Siberian Perennials - How Cold Can You Go?

If you're looking for a hardy plant, it makes sense to look in a cold climate. Our hardy perennials are often wild flowers or cultivars of plants that come from cold locations. I decided to compile a list of perennials whose names include "siberian" or "siberica/sibirica" or some location in or near Siberia. Surely if it can grow in Siberia, it could grow here in my cold climate garden in zone 1b.

Now for a brief geography review.

• From Wikipedia: [Siberia] includes a large part of the Eurasian Steppe and extends eastward from the Ural Mountains to the watershed between Pacific and Arcticdrainage basins, and southward from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and the national borders of both Mongolia and China.
• Botanical names also includes several towns and districts within Siberia, including Dahuria, Kamchatka, and others.
  

So on with my list of perennials and shrubs hardy in a land described as mostly taiga and tundra:

• Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica)- I have several of these and they look fabulous
  
• Siberian tea (Bergenia crassifolia)- I only have the related B. cordifolia
  
• Honeyberries (Lonicera kamchatika) - a berry with blue fruit borne in June
• Achillea sibirica ssp. camtschatica - a yarrow I found on the Jelitto seeds website.
  
• Siberian squill (Scilla sibirica) - a darling little spring-flowering bulb that I enjoy in my yard, however one academic article states that it is actually only grows in the area south of Siberia. Zone 2.
  
• Siberian dogwood (Cornus alba sibirica) - I have a few of these beauties
  
• Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla) - from western Siberia. I have one of these lovely shade plants ("Jack Frost", zone 3) with elegant foliage.
  
• Siberian Miner's lettuce (Claytonia sibirica) - listed as hardy to zone 4.
• Siberian Primrose (Primula siberica) - listed as hardy to zone 1, so I MUST find one of these. Grows in Alaska as well.
  
• Siberian columbine (Aquilegia glandulosa) - I was given one of these this summer! Listed as hardy to zone 3.
  
• Siberian columbine (Aquilegia sibirica) - listed as hardy to zone 3.
• Siberian foxglove (Digitalis sibirica) - not really hardy nor attractive according to the pictures I found.
• Siberian Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum sibiricum) - hardy to zone 3.
• Siberian Globeflower (Trollius ircuticus) - named after Irkutsk, one of Siberia's largest cities, a rare perennial listed as hardy to zone 3.
• Siberian Bellflower (Campanula sibirica) - a small bellflower listed as hardy to zone 4.
• Siberian Lily (Lilium pumilum) - an orange lily hardy to zone 3.
  
• Draba sibirica - a tiny alpine plant with yellow flowers, I may need to find one for my new alpine garden.
• Nepeta sibirica - a catmint listed as hardy to zone 4.
• "Dahurica" - several perennials use this name, including Gentiana dahurica, Actaea dahurica, Mentha dahurica, Campanula glomerulata dahurica
• "Tataricum" - meaning "of the Tatar mountains of Russia", which includes plants such as Ixiolirion tataricum and Goniolion tataricum (German statice).

To find further cold-hardy plants, I also searched for plants with "borealis", "boreale" and "arcticus" in their names, implying a northern plant.

• This includes Phlox borealis, Primula borealis (zone 2), Achillea borealis (zone 3), Draba borealis, and Polemonium boreale (zone 3).
  
• Also, Lupinus arcticus (zone 4) - I tried this plant once and killed it.

Wow, there are so many northern cold-weather perennials to try!

Aerial View of Fall

I got these pictures during a flight by tiny plane to the small community of Stanley Mission today. I didn't get any decent aerial photos of our yard, however, but I'm still learning how to use my new camera!
Islands in Lac La Ronge:

Stanley Mission historic church, the oldest standing building in Saskatchewan. I thought the cemetery was really striking in this picture (click on picture to see larger image). This is an old Anglican church built in the 1800s. It is still used on special occasions.

On a garden note, I planted some of my bulbs including Scilla siberica, Chionodoxa, Allium drumstick, Allium roseum, and Dreamland Single late tulips. It's getting cold enough to make my cheeks rosy, so I hope the rest of the mail order bulbs come soon!

Frost on the Flowers

I went out early this morning to see the state of the frosty flowers. The grass had a silvery coat of frost and the flowers had sparkly crusts of ice.
Rose "Morden Blush"

The wild pincherry trees produce brilliant colors in the fall.

The fall asters are just starting. This is Aster dumosus "Alert".

No, my fall bulbs are not planted yet. The small order from Veseys came yesterday in the mail but the big order from Botanus is still in the mail somewhere!